"So then did I become your enemy speaking to you the truth?" Gal 4:16
"Buy the truth, and sell it not; also wisdom, and instruction, and understanding" Pro 23:23
I love watching old movies. The weekends are my time to catch up with Joan Crawford, Bettie Davis, Cab Calloway, and Lena Horn. The movies from the 1930s and 40s have some of the greatest dialogues. I was watching an old movie called “Pinky” a few days ago. I read Ethel Waters’ biography with great enjoyment a few years back so I try to watch any movie that she was in. She is one of my favorite actresses. She plays a grandmother down south in this movie.
The movie tells the story of a young mulatto girl named Pinky who comes back to her home town after living in the big city and working as a nurse. Her Grandmother insisted she care for an elderly white woman . The elderly woman had watched over the grandmother when she worked on their land. Pinky had to come back to her hometown and deal with the race issues that haunted her a as child. She had been passing for a white women in the northern cities. The movie was revolutionary because this topic among many was not dealt with back in those era on the wide screens.
Pinky attends to the older lady daily. She hated the whole set up, however she still came around . She develops a strange and loving relationship with the older women. The older lady encouraged her to be real and be who she is. At one point she tells her to get her some coffee.
“ Make my coffee strong, I want the spoon to stand up in it!”
That line stuck with me for days. The thought of coffee being so strong that the spoon would stand up in it is thought provoking. The coffee is symbolic of truth. The spoon is symbolic for of being able to take the truth. We live in time where illusions are created everyday in beauty, advertisement, TV Commercials, and pop culture. These illusions aren’t exempt in the church either. Things are manipulated to appear to be what they are not. The extremes our society goes through to create false images and manipulate reality is intensifying. The truth becomes lies…
The truth can be hard , ugly, beautiful, inspirational, and intense. However, it should be the bases of how we live our lives. We should live like strong coffee. Strong coffee can be hard to take. It is getting easy to stretch and lightens the truth. The spoon is laying on the table and not in the cup for some. The teaching of the bible has become lightweight in some setting. It is the “user friendly gospel” that is present in some church settings. The gospel is watered down to make sure it does not offend. It loses it true meaning at times in this process. Because of the hatred that has been presented as the gospel by extremes fraction of Christianity in the last 10 years the true concept have to be water down by other fractions.
The true balance in the gospel is taking the word of God for what it means. The Bible talks about the word of God and prophecy that it is not open for private interpretation. In the bible you can’t just twist it to make it mean what ever want for you own convenience. It is missing the true purpose the word of God. The bible is a historical book along side the fact it is the word of God.
I studied some archeology in college before coming a Christian. The consistency of archeological artifact of biblical account was one of the main reasons I became a Christian. It was backed with historical fact and evidence that provided evidence to the stories to be accurate and true. I still study biblical archeology till this day.
Recent studies on the Shroud of Turin that show the blood stains, nail holes, dimension of Christ, and more confirm that something supernatural happened to the cloth to cause a holographic 3D x-ray photographic image. The details of Jesus’ resurrection are embedded on the shroud. One thing I found fascinating was the amulet band placed on Jesus’ neck that read in Aramaic for ” Father”. Also Abba which mean “Dear Father” in some translation. The placing of this on his neck was part of several different burial rituals both Jewish custom and Roman.
“Many amulets were inscribed on small discs of silver or other metal and worn as a pendant around the neck. Amulets being small in size, biblical verses and names were indicated by their initial letters, with the result that the inscription is frequently very difficult to decipher. The Samaritan community uses names of angels unknown in Jewish tradition.” http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/judaica/ejud_0002_0002_0_01036.html
Father
Aramaic - Aba
Hebrew - Aba
Arabic – Ab
“Abba, Father,' he said, 'everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will." Mark 14:36
They also discovered coins on Jesus eyes in the tomb dating back to the 29 AD that were from Pontius Pilate reign that confirms the dating of the cruxciation and resurrection of Christ. The most amazing fact found on the shroud revealed the body was floating in-between the cloth during the explosion of light of the image left on the linen. This is strong coffee that would make a spoon stand up! An event horizon in physic took place!
God is always revealing himself with truth and facts. Approaching the Christian faith with skepticism some times can lead to becoming a stronger believer because the evidence in the natural consistently reveals God’s word as true. I am not an expert by no means. I have a lot to learn and more studying to pursue about my own faith. It has been an amazing journey seeking biblical archeology that confirm the bible as historical and true for me.
Making strong coffee means intensifying the amount of coffee you use and the mixture of the brand. I like to drink light breakfast blends sometimes ,but it doesn't do the job for me. I prefer dark Columbia coffee or Ethiopian blends. I have been that way most of my life. Truth is as strong as a Columbia blend that wakes you up. So many are sleeping in their faith that a strong cup of truth will help mature the soul. Such truths as: A true relationship God through Jesus Christ, being a Christian and not just a church goers, character flaws that need to be fixed with the word of God, and learning to love other unconditionally. Some basic Christian beliefs have gotten lost in the hype of being so religious. The spoon needs to stand up!
Next time you sit down to drink a cup of coffee ask yourself, how do I like to hear truth? Truth is hard to take. It is hard for me to face truth every day. I am a mess some day trying to live my abilities! I have great days of victory when I just walk in Christ alone. The difference is being religious versus being in relationship as I accept the work on the cross by Jesus. But I realize I will never grow if I allow my self to believe the lies I tell my self to get through the day. I read, listen, and pray to hear God’s truth. The truth is not just the things I am trying to better at, but the greater truth of how much God loves me even when I struggle with life. It is all about his grace and love for me. I am a work in progress and far from what I should be, but I am on my way! Make my coffee strong! I want the spoon to stand up in it!
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